Portsmouth vs Leyton Orient Preview

Pompey will be looking to bounce back from their defeat at Doncaster with a victory at home to hapless Leyton Orient tomorrow.

Team News

Curtis Main remains sidelined with an abdominal injury but there are no new injury concerns for Paul Cook otherwise.

Sam Dalby, Liam Kelly and Robbie Weir are all sidelined with ankle, hamstring and knee injuries respectively but Nigel Atangana will play against his former club for the first time after a gentleman's agreement prevented him from doing so last year.

The Match

Whilst last Thursday's loss at the Keepmoat was disappointing, tomorrow's fixture should represent the perfect opportunity to get the automatic promotion bid back on track.

Orient are a mess both on and off the pitch at the moment. They were hammered 4-0 by Exeter on their last away day and lost 3-1 at home to Barnet last weekend. The owner is a mentalist who won't put any more money into the club and relegation is a real possibility for him and O's fans.

Therefore, despite the fact that Orient always seem to get one over Pompey at Fratton Park (the memories of that 4-1 embarrassment will never die) there can be no excuses for not taking three points from this game. Paul Cook will certainly face some harsh criticism if his team don't win for whatever reason.

The manager has said that the fans will be happy with the team he selects tomorrow but what does he mean by that? Pompey supporters have been clamouring to see Conor Chaplin replace Michael Smith up front as well as a more attacking formation on home turf.

So, does this mean that Chaplin will play alongside another striker in a 4-4-2 formation? Will Gareth Evans be pushed further forward with Adam Buxton playing at right back? Probably not, as that would be too much to ask!

It'll certainly be interesting to see what team Cook picks and even his choices for the bench with Jamal Lowe possibly making his first appearance tomorrow.